Taken
by CSI001
Summary: Greg's struggling to cope after his horrific ordeal, but how far can he go until he breaks? Rated T just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**I know, I know, another new story... I'm sorry, but I just can't help myself! I will try and finish one eventually! Hope you enjoy this **** x **

"New case, grab you stuff and meet me in the garage in five." Nick told him, leaning into the break room as he past. Greg didn't even have the chance to acknowledge him before he'd gone again.

Smiling slightly, he got up and poured his half drank coffee down the sink. It had been a long shift, and he'd only been at work two hours, so he was grateful to find that he had something to do. Heading to the locker room, Greg saw a glimpse of his reflection in one of the glass walls. Ignoring what he saw, he continued into the break room where he sat down.

His hands were shaking. He balled his hands into fists and took a deep breath. Whether it helped or not, Greg quickly opened his locker and pulled out his kit. He grabbed his jacket and pulled it on before going to meet Nick.

X

"Stokes, Sanders." Brass greeted them.

"Hey, Brass. What have we got?" Nick asked him as they ducked under the yellow tape an officer held up for them, to whom Greg thanked.

"John Doe, Caucasian, around late twenties. GSW to the head." Brass explained, and came to a stop in front of the body in the small convenience store.

Greg set his case down on the floor. "Who found the body?" He turned around to ask Brass.

"David Lowe; the guy who owns the store. Came to open up this morning, said he smelt something bad and then found the cause." He explained, nodding slightly down to the body.

Greg nodded slightly and bent next to the body just before David arrived.

"Hey, Super Dave."

"Hey, sorry I'm a bit late, there's something kicking off a few streets back, huge crowds. It was hard to get by." He explained as he looked at the body.

Brass raised his eyebrows and sighed as he turned around and Nick laughed slightly and patted him on his back as he left.

"Cause of death is obvious and I'd say time of death was about two or three hours ago." David told them and looked up when Nick joined them around the body.

"Well the place is open almost twenty-four hours" Nick noted, "leaves the killer a small window of opportunity." He looked up and noticed a camera. "Store has surveillance; maybe we can get a face to whoever did this."

Greg nodded and breathed deeply, with his eyes closed. Luckily, David and Nick were still looking over the body so didn't notice. He slowly stood up from his crouched position on the floor and headed over to the shops wall, where he leant on it and rubbed his forehead with the back of his gloved hand.

Nick looked up and frowned in concern. "You alright, Greg?" He asked when he saw him leaning on the wall with his eyes shut, and his face glistening ever so slightly from a thin sheet of sweat that had developed on his naturally tanned skin, which was considerably pale.

'Mmh hmm.'

Nick shared a look with David and got up to see to Greg. "You wanna' sit down, buddy? You're shaking." Nick said as he saw Greg's arms tremble slightly.

Greg shook his head which the back of his hand was still pressed against and swallowed deeply, his eyes still shut. Nick stood by him and placed a hand under his elbow. "David, can you go and find me a chair from somewhere?" He asked calmly and David nodded without a word and got up.

Nick thanked him and turned back to Greg. His eyes were scrunched up and his breathing was becoming laboured. "Here, sit down." He instructed as David brought them a chair. Greg shakily sat down and lent forward so that his arms were resting on his knees.

"Deep breathes, Greg." David told him quietly and Nick smiled, glad to have him there and knowing what to do.

Greg shifted and lowered his head, eyes closed again. David grabbed his wrist gently and felt for his pulse. Nick looked at him and waited. "His pulse is irregular."

Nick frowned and bent down so that he was level with Greg. "Hey man, you feeling any better?"

Greg shook his head. "I think I'm gonna' be sick." He told them and lifted his head.

"Alright, man. Just hold on, Dave's gone to get you a bucket or something." Nick told him and it wasn't long after he'd left that David was back.

"Here." He said and passed the bucket he'd got from his van to Greg.

Greg scooted the bucket closer to him along the floor and sat for about half a minute with his hand running through his hair. Then, he began retching and vomiting, all the time Nick rubbing him on the back comfortingly.

A minute after Greg had finished, David leant forward and felt Greg's head. "You're burning up. I think you should take your jacket off."

Greg began to shrug first his jacket off, with the help of Nick, and then his work vest.

Much to Nick's surprise, Brass was still at their scene and had just come back in the store. "Hey, I'm gonna' need one of you- You alright, kid?" He asked as soon as he saw the three; Greg on the chair hunched over and Nick and David kneeling next to him.

Greg glanced his eyes up but looked back down again, not even attempting to answer him.

He was in only his shirt now and it clung to his body with sweat. He reached his right hand up shakily and tried to undo his top button. "It's too hot." He said in a whisper and Nick gently shoved him back in his chair so that he was sat up right and undid his button for him.

Brass had moved closer to the group and spoke up. "Do I need to call for a medic?"

"No." Greg told him and shook his head tiredly. "I don't need a medic."

"Greg look at you, man. I think you should be checked out." Nick told him, but still he shook his head.

"Greg, I think you should go to the hospital. Just so that they can check you over and make sure nothing's wrong." David told him with a small smile.

"No."

Greg lurched forward again and threw up some more into the bucket. The others shared a look of disapproval but none of them argued to ring for an ambulance. Once Greg had finished being sick, Brass reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of mints and passed them to Greg.

"Thanks." Greg said but didn't take one. "Has anyone got any water?" He asked and looked around with slightly red eyes.

Nick opened his kit and threw Brass the bottle he had kept in there.

Greg took the bottle with shaking hands and took a few sips. "Sorry." He eventually said with a small smile and looked down.

Nick chuckled. "No need to apologise, you can't help being sick."

Greg raised his eyebrows and rubbed his head. "Can you take me back to the lab?" He asked looking at Nick.

"Of course, man. I'll take you straight home." Nick told him and Greg nodded, still feeling a little nauseous.

"Do you want to keep this bucket?" David asked him.

"No, thanks though."

David whisked the bucket away and Greg stood up and swayed on his feet.

"You alright there?" Brass asked, as both he and Nick stepped forward. Greg held onto the back of the chair and nodded, and then slowly began making his way back to Nick's truck.

Nick opened the passenger side door for him and watched as he sluggishly climbed in the car.

"You alright calling the others to come down here?" Nick asked Brass after he'd shut the door.

"Yeah, don't worry about that. Is he alright?"

Nick shrugged and looked back to the car where he saw Greg's head resting on the window. "I don't know, he seemed fine one minute then the next he's almost blacking out on me. Guess he just had a funny ten minutes." Nick said, pursing his lips together.

Brass nodded. "Well make sure he's alright." He said with a final nod.

Nick nodded back and went to get in his truck.

He looked over and found Greg with his eyes closed again. He started his truck and headed back to Greg's.

X

Nick had glanced at Greg on the journey back to his house and watched as Greg's breathing hitched in his sleep. Not long after they'd left their scene Nick noticed that Greg had drifted off. Although it troubled him to see Greg so restless, and wondered if this was a regular occurrence.

"Hey, sleeping beauty, we're here." Nick said with a smile.

Greg's eyes snapped open and he rubbed his face tiredly with one hand. "Err, thanks, for the ride and you know, back at the scene."

"No problem. You ring me if you need anything alright?"

Greg nodded and smiled to him before getting out the car and slowly walking up his driveway, fishing in his pocket for his keys. Once he was through the door he turned and waved slightly to Nick as he went.

Climbing up his stairs, Greg couldn't believe how tired he was. All he needed was a good night's sleep he thought. But climbing into bed, he found that he couldn't sleep at all. And it seemed that Greg was going to have another restless night.

X

"Hey, I didn't expect to see you here today." Nick greeted him.

Greg smiled. "Eh, you know, I'm feeling fine so I thought there was no point in staying at home."

Nick nodded. "Don't you think you should have gone to see a doctor, or at least had a bit of a rest from work though? I mean, yesterday was... scary man. I didn't know what was going on." He admitted.

"What's the point in wasting their time?" Greg said. "I think it was just stress you know? Nothing to worry about."

Nick shook his head. "What are you stressed about?"

Greg looked at him and shrugged. "I don't know, I've been doing a lot of work lately, it's probably just because of that."

"Well then you need to have a break Greg. You can't keep piling stuff onto yourself." Nick scolded him.

"I know, but at home I'd only find more work to do. Might as well do it here, where I'm getting paid." He joked, but Nick didn't laugh.

"Look, I had a few weeks off last month after what happened..." Greg began and Nick looked down sadly.

"I just, I wanna' just get back into things. I wanna' stay at the lab where there are lots of people and I can just do other stuff. I don't want to be sat on my ass at home, alone." Greg told him and sighed quietly.

Nick nodded and saw how Greg's mood had changed. "Well, if you're here you might as well get to work." He said and slid a case file across the table to Greg, who picked it up with a smile.

Nick smiled back but then looked back down solemnly. He decided that after shift one day next week, he was going to take Greg out for a boy's night out, which he thought was just what Greg needed.

X

**So, what did you think? :) Pretty long first chapter for me, so I hoped you enjoyed it! And please review! x **


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for the first set of reviews Marymel, McGeekLover, ****Lil Badger 101**** and 9Laura8! They do mean a lot :D Here's the next chapter and I hope you all enjoy! x**

"So, I heard Greg had a funny turn the other day?" Sara questioned as she sat in the break room with Russell and Catherine.

Catherine nodded. "Yeah, I spoke to Nick about it, apparently it was some sort of panic or anxiety attack, or at least that's what David said it looked like. But I've spoken to Greg today and he seems fine."

"I had him come to my office yesterday morning and he said he was okay. He doesn't really know what happened, just said he had a funny turn." Russell told them.

Sara looked at them. "Did he go to the hospital?"

"Nope, he told the guys that he didn't want to go." Catherine told her. Sara frowned.

"Well, let's hope it's just the one time."

X

"You busy tonight, G?" Nick asked as he entered the locker room where Greg sat tying his shoes.

He shook his head. "I don't think so, why?"

"You fancy a guys night out? Hit a few bars, have a few drinks, meet a few girls..." Nick added with a cheeky grin.

Greg laughed slightly. "I don't know..."

"Come on, we've not been out in ages. I'll get the first round." Nick offered.

Sighing, Greg agreed. "Alright."

"There we go. You never know, you might get lucky." Nick winked at him before he left the room, leaving Greg by himself.

X

Greg and Nick were sat at the bar at a club which they'd been to before. They knew the bartended, Kenny, well from being there so many times for a member of the team's birthday or leaving do, and Nick shouted him over to get him and Greg another drink.

"What's wrong with you, man? You look tense." Kenny stated when he saw that Greg had not moved from the position he'd been in since he arrived.

Greg looked up to him and shook his head with a smile looking down. "I don't know."

"Well, maybe another drink will loosen you up a little." Kenny said to him as he gave him and Nick a new drink.

Nick looked at Greg. "You okay? If you don't wanna' be here just say and we can leave."

Greg looked up to him and smiled. "No, it's alright, I want to be here."

Nick smiled when a hot blonde girl came up behind Greg and he gave him a knowing glance before getting up and leaving Greg and the girl alone.

"Hi." The woman purred past his ear, before she sat down in Nick's previous seat.

"My name's Francesca, but you can call me Frankie." She told him with a sexy smile.

Greg smiled back at her and could feel his face blush. "Greg." He told her with a nod.

"Well hi Greg." She smiled at him again.

"What are you drinking?" He asked her, nodding down to the drink in her hand.

"Erm, a cement mixer please." Frankie said to him, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Greg cocked an eyebrow at her and then ordered the drink. "What?" Frankie asked him with a laugh.

"I don't know, you just don't look like that type of girl." Greg told her with a smile.

Frankie bit her lip. "Well, I guess we'll have to get to know each other better so that you do know what type of girl I am." She said, and pulled the cherry off the stick from her cocktail.

X

"So, do you wanna leave here now?" Frankie asked Greg as she moved her mouth up from kissing his neck towards his ear. They'd moved away from the bar and had found a booth seat near the back of the club.

"Sure." Greg said without hesitation. As Frankie pulled him up and led him out holding his hand, Greg looked for Nick to tell him that he was leaving, but then saw that he was caught up chatting with a group of girls, so thought otherwise, and left with a smile on his lips.

X

Frankie's head hit Greg's pillow and she dragged Greg down on top of her by his shirt. They were both laughing as they kissed each other passionately on the lips.

"I think we have too many clothes on." Frankie said with a smile as she began unbuttoning Greg's shirt and Greg laughed at her forwardness.

He was looking down at her lustfully but then quickly scrambled off his bed when he saw her face change.

"I'm sorry." Greg apologised as he faced his bedroom wall, trying as fast as he could to fasten his shirt back up.

Frankie sat up on his bed, and then climbed off to go behind him. "Why are you apologizing?" She asked him softly, realizing that any chances of having sex had now gone out the window.

Greg shook his head, his breathing erratic. "Because… I know how bad this looks." He said referring to his chest.

"What happened?" Frankie asked when Greg had turned to face her.

"I'd rather not talk about it." Greg told her with his head bowed. "Sorry."

Frankie laughed and Greg looked up. "Please don't apologise. We've known each other one night; we were probably taking things too fast anyway. But… I really like you, so if you want, maybe we can meet up again?"

Greg smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that."

Frankie smiled back and leaned in for a kiss. Greg just stood there at first but then kissed her back, wishing he could go further.

She pulled away and smiled. She pulled a pen out her purse and grabbed Greg's hand, writing her number on it.

"Call me." She said before letting herself out.

Greg stood there not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

X

Greg pulled into the Crime Lab's garage and not two seconds later, Nick pulled up next to him. Greg jumped out his car and went around Nick's.

"Hey, where did you get to last night? Huh?" Nick teased him. Greg laughed at him slightly. "Did you get lucky?"

Greg tilted his head to the side and shrugged. "Almost."

"Almost. What do you mean almost?" Nick laughed as they walked into the lab and to the locker room.

Greg sat himself down in front of his locker. "Well, we'd gotten back to my place and…" Greg sighed. "…She was taking my shirt off. And, let's just say my chest isn't really the prettiest sight at the minute, with all the bruising still and, scars."

"What she stopped because of that?" Nick asked him shocked and angry.

"No, no. It was me." Greg told him with a nervous laugh. "I freaked out." He told nick with an uneasy shrug. "Everything was going well until then. I don't know, just her face when she saw… I was uncomfortable with her looking at me."

Nick felt for Greg. If he'd hit it off with a girl, Nick would be the first to know about it. He would always share his stories, but hearing this one, hearing that Greg didn't want a girl to see him naked… it hurt. The sadness in Greg's eyes hurt.

"I'm sorry, man." Nick said, not knowing what else to say.

Greg shook his head. "It's fine. She left me her number and wants me to call, so it's not all bad."

Nick smiled. They fell into an uneasy silence for a minute.

"Greg… how are you doing?"

Greg looked up to Nick confused. "What?"

"How are you coping, you know, after what happened?" Nick asked him.

Greg was a bit taken back by the question. "I don't know; I'm alright." He told him, quickly looking away and finding something to sort out in his locker.

Nick bit his lip. "Really?"

Greg looked at him with wide eyes and nodded. "Yeah, really." Then looked away again.

Nick sensed that Greg didn't want to talk, it was obvious, but he had to know. "You know you can talk to me right? You'd tell me if, I don't know, you were struggling or having a hard time?"

"Yeah, I would." Greg told him bluntly, getting slightly wound up.

Nick cocked his eyebrow. "How are you sleeping?"

Greg spun around and slammed his locker door shut. "Would you stop with all the questions! Did I pester you after you got out that box? No, I didn't so why do you feel the need to do it to me?"

"I'm not trying to pester you, alright? I just want to make sure you're okay." Nick defended himself; a little shocked that Greg would bring up the worst experience of his life.

"Well I am alright. So just drop it." Greg told him and stood up, attempting to leave.

But Nick stood up, locking his path. "If you were okay, you wouldn't be blowing up at me like this." Nick pointed out and Greg couldn't argue with him.

"Fine, I'm having a bit of trouble sleeping. There, are you happy now?"

Nick shook his head. "Talk to me, man. Are you having nightmares?"

"No. I just _can't _get to sleep. My head hits the pillow and I'm wide awake." Greg told him and looked away.

Nick nodded. "Maybe you should go and see someone…"

"I don't want to go on any sleeping pills or whatever. I can handle this without any." Greg told him as he sat back down.

Nick joined him back on the bench. "I didn't mean a doctor, Greg. I think you should go and talk to a psychiatrist or someone. You need their help."

Greg looked at him and swallowed. He knew what Nick was saying was true; he just didn't want to believe it. "No, I'm fine."

"You're not G. How long are you gonna' keep denying to yourself that you need to talk about what happened? It's not healthy."

Greg rubbed his hands through his hair. "They're not going to understand, Nick. When I got to that house, as soon as I got there, they started beating me up. They beat me every day until you found me. How is a stranger going to understand what happened to me? Huh?"

Nick shook his head. "I don't know, maybe they won't. But if you talk to someone, anyone, they can help you. Talk to me; I mean, I still don't know what went on because you've not told anyone, Greg."

"I don't want to tell anyone, that's why. What happened is my business and I'll deal with it however I want." Greg told him.

"So you're never going to tell me what went off?" Nick asked with a coked eyebrow.

Greg shook his head. "Nope, not if I don't want to, which I _don't_."

Saying that, Greg got up and left the locker room, leaving Nick sat alone.

x

**Please reviewww! x **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! I know it's been a long time since an update and I'm sorry! Please enjoy this chapter though and leave a comment if you liked it **** x **

"Hey Greg, are you feeling better?" David asked him as he entered the morgue where he and Doc were.

Greg looked up to him and smiled, "Yeah, thanks I am."

Doc and Dave smiled at him and Doc Robbins waved him over. "Come take a look at this.

"There wasn't just the gunshot wound in this guy, it looks like he was hit around the head pretty hard before hand, the blood just covered it up."

Greg frowned, "Could he have fallen in a way to get an injury here?"

Doc Robbins shook his head. "It's possible but very unlikely. It looks like someone hit him around the head with something very hard."

"Okay, you have the bullet for me?" Greg asked.

"Here you go." Doc said as he passed the bullet in a container to him.

"Thanks, that all Doc?"

He nodded. "I've sent samples to Hodges and if I find anything else I'll call you."

Greg smiled. "Thanks, cya later."

X

"Hey man, you just been to autopsy?" Nick asked as he joined Greg at the break room table.

He looked up from the file he was looking at and then back down as he spoke. "Yeah, I've sent the bullet to be processed and Doc found another injury on our guy; looks like he was hit around the head before he was shot."

Nick nodded and joined Greg at the table. "I want to apologise for earlier. I was out of line, man."

Greg looked across to him and shook his head. "It's fine, don't worry about it."

The way he said it made Nick think that Greg hadn't actually forgiven him but he let it slide. "Well I just got a call from Brass, the owner of the shop just got into a little bit of trouble down town, so you wanna' head down there?"

"Sure let's go."

X

There was a hoard of people in the middle of town and cop cars everywhere. "I thought you said a little bit of trouble?" Greg said as they tried to make their way through the massive crowd.

Nick turned back slightly. "Yeah, that's what I was told anyway."

Nick carried on making his way through the people but Greg got held back. "What happened to your face dude?"

He tried to ignore the man but then a whole group of people surrounded him even more. "You get your ass kicked?"

"Look at his hands man; they have cuts all over them!" Another man shouted.

Greg, feeling more and more self conscious, put his head down and began making his way towards where Nick was with Brass. However, he didn't get very far before he was stopped again. "You deserve what happened to you! Whoever beat you up should have a medal; you cops don't do your job right!"

Greg looked at the man and swallowed nervously. "I'm not a cop." He told him quietly.

The man laughed and shoved Greg. "What the hell you doing here then?" He asked and gave him another shove.

Nick looked over and saw the man pushing Greg around and immediately went to him. "HEY! BACK OFF!"

The men looked at him and smiled as they looked at each other. "Sorry Officer, we were just talking to him."

Nick gave them a hard stare. "Well your little chat's over, now move on."

He made his way back to where Brass was with some other officers who were holding some rowdy people, and made sure Greg was close behind him. "You alright, man?"

Greg just nodded and gave him a tight smile.

Nick looked at him, not believing him at all.

X

Greg dropped his shirt down quickly. "Hey man, what are you doing?"

He looked to Nick who had just entered the locker room and gave him a small smile, "I was just looking at… where those guys shoved me…"

Nick frowned. "You alright? Are you hurt?"

Greg shook his head and spoke up shakily. "No, no, I'm alright, they just got my stitches that's all."

"You want me to take you to the hospital to get them checked?" Nick asked him concerned.

Greg smiled slightly. "No, it's alright, they're fine."

Nick smiled back and leaned on his locker with his shoulder. "What were those guys doing?"

Greg shrugged, "You know, just trying to pick a fight, saying stuff about my face, blah blah blah." He told Nick, trying to act unfased by the whole thing.

"God, I hate people sometimes." Nick said as he sat down and opened his locker.

Greg looked down, "Yeah, me too." He agreed quietly.

Nick looked up to him sympathetically. The poor guy must have been on edge from his previous incident just over a month ago, and now he'd just been confronted at a scene. Hell it wasn't even a scene; they just went to check something out.

"Well it's good to know most people get what they deserve, right?" He piped up and looked to Greg with a smile.

Greg's head turned to Nick and he nodded with a small smile "Yeah."

They both stayed quiet for quite a while until Nick broke the silence.

"Look," he opened his locker and pulled out a business card, "I know you said you don't want to talk to anyone, but here" he said and passed the card to Greg. "Just think about it. I hate to see you like this, man."

Greg took the card with a shaking hand and looked at it. He really didn't want to talk. "Thanks."

"No problem." Nick told him. "You coming out for dinner?"

Greg shrugged. "I don't know, Russell asked me earlier."

"Come on man, we've not been out together in ages, you know, the whole team." Nick tried to persuade him.

Greg sighed. "Alright, where are we meeting?"

X

The team had just ordered their food and made general chit chat whilst waiting for it to arrive. However half way through their conversation, a group of rowdy men came in the diner.

"Hey! Can we have a round of beers!" One man shouted as he leaned across the counter. It was obvious the men were drunk and everyone in the diner looked at them because of the racket they were making.

"Here we go." Catherine said raising her eyebrows as the men were shouting again.

"What do you mean you don't serve beer! What sort of a fucking place is this!"

Nick turned around in his seat and the team knew what he was thinking. "Nicky, leave it, they'll go in a second." Catherine told him. He turned back around and shook his head. These sort of people made him so angry. He always thought that if you can't handle your drink, you shouldn't drink at all.

Greg stayed out of it, feeling quite vulnerable in front of these men. However he'd be damned if he let the others know how frightened he was, so he sat back in his seat and pretended that he was unfased by the situation.

"Get me a fucking beer!" One of the men screamed at the waitress angrily and everybody went quiet as they watched the situation grow out of hand.

Nick got out his seat and threw his napkin on the counter. "Nick wait." Sara told him, trying to grab his arm but it was no good.

"Hey fellas, do you wanna' move along? You're kind of disturbing everyone's night." Nick told them as he got closer.

The men laughed at him. "You tellin' me what to do?" One of them asked, slurring.

Nick shook his head and kept his cool. "No Sir I'm not, it's just you're not gonna' find what you want here. Why don't you head down to the strip where there are as many bars as you'd want?"

All he got in reply was a load of abuse. "Fine, you want me to call the cops?" Nick asked them pulling out his phone.

"We'll fight you. You win and we'll leave, we win and you go find us some fucking beer!" The men challenged.

Nick smiled and shook his head in disbelief. "Of course I'm not gonna' fight you."

"Yes you are, us against you and those guys." They said, pointing to Russell and Greg. Greg immediately put his head down and his breathing quickened.

"We're not fighting. End of, so you can leave now or I can get the cops down here. Your choice." Nick told them as he crossed his arms.

But the men were having none of it. In just a second they were all over Nick and soon enough a full fight had broken out. "Hey!"

Russell immediately jumped out his seat and rushed over, grabbing one of the men and holding him back. Sara and Catherine also got up and grabbed a man between them; restraining him until the police arrived which some other customers were ringing for.

Greg however, didn't move, couldn't move. He wanted so badly to get up and help but he was frozen in his seat. Luckily the fight didn't last long as the men were so drunk they could hardly stand up straight and they were quickly restrained by the tem and some officers who had already arrived. And soon enough, all the men were in the back of cop cars being taken away.

"Hey, you alright?" Catherine asked Greg as they came back to the table.

Greg nodded, but his eyes deceived him. There were tears swimming around in them. The shouting, the violence, the pain. It all came back to him because of those men and he couldn't hide his fear any longer as his hands began to shake violently and the tears threatened to come out.

"Hey, it's alright, they can't do anything, they're gone now." Catherine told him with a soft smile, trying to calm him down, as she grabbed his hands.

The whole team was back at the table now and Greg looked at them, breathing heavily and erratically. "I'm sorry." He told them as he bit his lip and looked down.

"Hey deep breathes Greg. You don't need to apologise. "Russell told him with a smile. The poor man began crying and small sobs escaped his mouth.

The waitress had come over to thank everyone for their help; however she stopped half way through. "Thank you so much for- would you like a glass of water?" She asked when she saw Greg.

Greg didn't reply so Sara looked up to her. "Yes please."

Whilst the waitress went off again, the team tried to sooth Greg. "Hey man, they were nothing but a load of jackasses. They're nothing to worry about." Nick told him and Greg looked up at them. "Sorry, I just… I don't know…"

"Greg, don't even bother trying to explain yourself, we understand." Sara told him with a smile. He nodded and wiped his eyes.

"Here you go, Sir." The waitress said as she passed him the glass of water. Sara took it from her with a smile and passed it to Greg who took it with a shaking hand. "Your food is ready, would you like it now?"

Russell looked at the group before nodding, "Yes please, that would be great."

They settled back in their seats but Catherine kept a hold of one of Greg's hands. The waitress came and Greg didn't look up once. "Greg, come on, it'll get cold." Catherine told him as he hadn't started eating.

"I'm not hungry anymore." He told her and kept his head bowed. The team shared glances and expressed their concern.

"You need to eat man, you're too skinny." Nick told him. "Yeah, it's not good when a girl's fatter than you!" Sara joked with him.

Greg's mouth twitched but he still didn't eat it. "I think I'm gonna' go home." He told them as he stood up and got some money out his wallet.

"You want one of us to come with you?" Russell asked him as he stopped eating.

He shook his head. "No thanks. Sorry, I'll see you tomorrow." Greg put his money on the table and slowly walked out. The team looked at him and sighed.

Greg had been more affected than they'd thought.

X

**So, did you like? If you did or didn't please review! x**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for the reviews Marymel and Lil Badger 101! They do mean an awful lot :) Hope you all enjoy this chapter x **

Greg had called in sick for work. He wasn't sick, but he'd called in. He just couldn't face going in and seeing the sympathetic faces of his friends. Why did he freak out so badly? He sighed as he went to his kitchen. He was just about to open his fridge but stopped when he saw the card Nick had given him. He pulled it down and stared at it.

A minute later he moved and picked up his phone and dialled the number on the card. "Hi, I'd like to make an appointment."

X

"Hey, man, I didn't think you were coming in today?" Nick asked as he saw Greg just entering the lab.

Greg smiled slightly at him and shook his head. "I'm not; I just have to fetch something from my locker."

Nick nodded. "You have some reports to write?"

Greg licked his lips and nodded. "Huh, you're not the only one!" Nick told him laughing as he went his own way through the lab.

Greg carried on down the hall until he reached Russell's office. He knocked on the door, hoping he was in and sighed when he was shouted to go in.

"Oh hey, Greg." Russell greeted him with a smile as he looked up from his work. "Come and take a seat."

He walked over and sat down in front of his boss' desk. "What are you doing here; I thought you were having the day off?" Russell asked him.

"I am, if that's alright. I just, I need to tell you that I've got an appointment with a psychiatrist today. I know that we have to come and tell you about these things so… here I am." Greg told him with a slight smile.

Russell smiled back. "That's great, Greg. I'm glad to hear it. Here…" He opened one of his desks drawers and pulled out a form. "I just need you to fill this in. Don't worry; I don't need to know all the details of what you're talking about at these sessions or anything. It's just so we know where you're going, how long for, etc etc." Russell told him with a smile. He could tell just by Greg was acting that he was uncomfortable and nervous.

Greg nodded his head and took the piece of paper. "Alright, thanks. I'll see you tomorrow." He said as he stood to leave, and gave Russell one last smile.

X

"Catherine?"

She turned her head around and saw Greg standing in the doorway to the locker room. "Hey, how are you?" She asked him as she waved him over to sit next to her.

"I'm alright thanks. I just… I want to ask you something." Greg told her with a small smile.

"Sure, go ahead." She smiled at him.

He smiled back nervously and ran his hand through his hair. "I have an appointment later with a psychiatrist. And, I was just wondering if you… if you could come with me…" he asked her flicking her eyes up to look at her.

"Of course I can, Greg. That's fantastic." She told him with a warm smile which made him feel a little more comfortable.

"Okay thanks. But you don't have to if you don't want. I know you have your own things to do." Greg told her.

Catherine shook her head. "No, this is what I want to do. What time is the appointment?"

"Three o'clock." Greg told her.

"Alright then, I'll pick you up just before." Catherine told him. Greg smiled at her and nodded.

"Okay."

X

"You nervous?" Catherine asked him as she drove them to Greg's appointment.

His leg was jiggling up and down and he kept tapping his fingers on the arm rest. "A little bit."

Catherine laughed slightly. "Well don't be. Everything's going to be fine."

"Yeah, I know. I just can't help thinking about it." Greg told her.

"I know, but don't stress about it."

Greg nodded. "Yeah, I'll try. Have you ever been to one before?"

Catherine looked to him and nodded. "Of course, I don't think you can work in this job and not end up going at least once!" She laughed. "Once you get in there, it's fine. Seriously there's nothing to worry about."

X

"Hi Mr Sanders, I'm Lauren. It's nice to meet you." She said as he and Catherine entered her office. She rose from her seat and shook both of their hands.

Greg smiled at her and spoke. "You can call me Greg. And this is Catherine, I brought her with me. Is that alright?" he asked, wondering if he was allowed to bring someone with him.

Lauren smiled and nodded happily. "Yes that's fine; I find it helps if people bring someone they know along with them."

"Please, take a seat."

"Before you get any wrong perceptions, this is not a serious formal meeting; it's a casual informal get together. We can just have a general chat if you don't feel like opening up too much; we don't have to have heart to hearts every session, okay? I'm just here to listen to whatever you have to tell me and see in what way I can help. Alright?" She asked Greg with a smile.

Greg smiled at her and nodded and looked to Catherine who smiled back.

"So, tell me a little bit about yourself Greg" Lauren asked him as she started making a cup of coffee.

"Erm, I'm a CSI, a crime scene investigator." He told her.

"Oh that's cool, what sort of stuff do you do?" Lauren asked him as she leaned on a table casually.

Greg looked to Catherine. "We collect evidence from a scene, like a murder, or a car accident, and then we piece it all together and try and find a suspect."

Lauren nodded and brought them both a drink over, to which they thanked her for. "I take it you both like coffee?" She asked as she out down some sugar.

"Yeah, we drink a lot of it at work to keep going don't we?" Catherine asked Greg.

"Yeah, we can end up working long shifts."

Lauren sat back down with her own drink. "So you two work together?" She asked as she sipped her coffee.

"Yeah, Catherine taught me a little when I was becoming a CSI."

"Oh wow, you two must be quite close then. It sounds like an interesting job." Lauren commented.

Greg nodded. "It is, but it's kind of why I'm here." He told her quietly with a shy smile.

Lauren put her drink down and looked to him. "Okay." She said and Greg took that as his queue to continue.

"When I was at a scene, I was 'kidnapped'" Greg told her with a small laugh. "It sounds so stupid when I say it like that."

Lauren smiled. "Well if that's what happened then that's what it is."

Greg nodded. "Yeah, it is. I was taken to a house, I still don't know where it was, but whilst I was there, I was beaten pretty badly."

"How long were you there? At the house." Lauren asked him.

Greg shrugged. "I'm not sure." He answered and looked to Catherine.

"Eighteen days." She answered for him with a sad smile.

Lauren's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Over two weeks, that's a long time."

"Yeah," Greg said, "It felt even longer though." He told her with a nervous laugh.

"What happened when you were in the house?" Lauren asked him. Greg looked to Catherine and took a shaky breath. "It's okay; you don't have to tell me yet. There's no rush." Lauren told him.

"A lot of bad stuff." Greg told her as his eyes watered.

Lauren passed over a box of tissues. "I can see that. Here"

Greg took one and willed himself not to let the tears fall. "I'm sorry. I'm just emotional recently."

Catherine smiled as she rubbed his arm. "Did you not use to be?" Lauren asked.

Greg shook his head. "Greg used to be quite conserved. He'd always put on a smile no matter what," Catherine told her, "He's never been that open about his problems or emotions to anyone."

Lauren nodded and looked to Greg whose head was down. "So, coming here must be quite a big step for you." She stated.

"Yeah, I was debating coming in." Greg told her lifting his head slightly.

She smiled at him and nodded. "Everybody's the same. But, seriously, when you've finished here today, you'll be glad you came. Is there a main issue you wanted to talk about?"

Greg lifted his head to look at her and sighed. "I'm just… finding it hard to get over what happened. I don't… I don't think I'm coping very well." He told her and let out a shaky breath, looking to Catherine as she grabbed his hand for support.

Lauren nodded slowly. "Okay." She said softly. "How long ago is it since this happened?"

"About three months." Greg told her, bouncing his leg up and down out of habit.

"That's quite a while. How come you didn't come here earlier?" Lauren asked him with inquisitive eyes.

"I was, erm, in the hospital for quite a while after it." he told her slowly. "And I thought I was doing alright, you know?" He told her with a shaky voice.

"It's hard to tell when you need help." Lauren told him. "What's made you change your mind?"

"I've had some problems at work."

"What sort of problems?"

Greg sighed. "I've had a few; I don't know what they are, anxiety or panic attacks. I just freak out a lot now and for no reason."

Lauren leaned forward and glanced to Catherine. "Do you think that you've possibly started work too soon?"

Greg shrugged and looked down again. Honestly, he didn't know. At the time, it seemed like he was ready to start work again, but after only a sort while he was questioning himself. Everything just seemed too much.

"How are things at home? Do you have a partner?" Lauren asked him.

"No I live alone." Greg replied.

"Okay and are you having any problems at home? Having these attacks?"

Greg looked to Catherine, who still had her hand in his, and looked almost apologetic as he nodded. Catherine smiled sadly and squeezed his hand.

"When do you get these attacks? What are they like?" Lauren asked him, opening her desk draw and pulling something out.

"I get them randomly. The other day I was just watching TV and I got short of breath, sweaty… I threw up too. I sometimes wake up and have one or I'm in the middle of one already." Greg told her biting his lip.

Lauren handed him a slip of paper she'd just pulled off a pad. "I'm going to start you on some anti-anxiety pills. How do you feel about that?"

Greg took the paper form her and nodded. "That's fine."

"Okay, great. You say you can wake up during an attack, how are you sleeping?"

"I'm not really. It's hard for me to drop off and when I do I wake up after like an hour." Greg informed her.

Lauren licked her lip as she thought. "I can give you some sleeping pills too, if you're comfortable with that? They're pretty effective."

"Err, I sometimes have nightmares…" He told her looking at Catherine, "if I take the sleeping pills, will I wake up from them or?"

"You will wake up if they're bad enough, however depending on how tired you are, one of the pills can knock you right out." Lauren told him.

Greg nodded. "Okay, dose me up." He told her with a smile.

She laughed at him as well as Catherine. "I'll prescribe you enough for two weeks worth, that's for the sleeping pills and the anxiety pills. If you for any reason want to stop taking them that's fine and if you find that after the two weeks you think you might need some more we'll discuss our options, okay?"

"Yeah, that sounds great, thanks." Greg told her.

Hopefully they would work.

X

**There's another little chappy done! Hope you liked it and if you have a minute, you know what to do ;) x **


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